1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to readily collapsible, foldable, compact umbrellas.
In more detail, an umbrella having a canopy linkage which is collapsible in an at least four-fold manner and a stick which is telescopic in an at least four-stage manner, having a slide which is displaceable on the said stick for canopy opening and closing. The canopy linkage including in each case a main strut linked to the slide and a central canopy rod linked to the crown, as well as at least three collapsible link parallelograms which are controlled by means of this canopy rod and main strut, and in each case fold and extend peripheral outer canopy rods; all the parts of the canopy linkage comprising a combination of rods of U-shaped profiles, flat profiles and round profiles or wire profiles. To be precise, in such a mutual arrangement and alignment with respect to one another that, from the point of view of the collapsed umbrella, the main strut and the central canopy rod, as well as the upper long link of the first parallelogram are, in each case, formed by a U-shaped profile turned away from the stick axis and the upper long link of the second parallelogram as well as the lower long link of the third parallelogram, in each case, comprise a U-shaped profile turned towards the stick axis, whereas the lower long link of the second parallelogram and the upper long link of the third parallelogram, in each case, comprise a flat profile or round profile, the U-shaped profile of the central canopy rod being wider than the U-shaped profile of the upper long link of the first parallelogram and of the U-shaped profile of the main strut.
2. Description of Related Art
Umbrellas which are collapsible in a four-fold manner have been known in different variants, with different canopy kinematics, such as for example according to the variants defined above in accordance with U.S. patent Yang U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,783 or such as for example according to German Patent Specification 823,326 which shows crossing scissor levers and link parallelograms of flat bars. Umbrellas of these types can be optimally shortened to a pocket-sized configuration, while retaining an optimally large-area canopy parabola, since the canopy rods can be shortened to a quarter of their extended length.
Since however, in the collapsed state, the canopy rods inevitably produce an "accordion" folding, this folding is so obtrusive in the cross-section of the umbrella that it forms and appears as a relatively thick formation, in particular whenever, for reasons of better wind resistance, the canopy linkage is formed not just only from flat bars as in the case of the variant in accordance with German Patent Specification 823,325, but at least partially also from stabilising U-shaped profile material corresponding for instance to the variant in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,783.
In order to make the canopy linkage of this variant, comprising U-shaped profile and round or wire profile, more slender in the folded-together state, already in this case, the link parallelograms fold substantially with the hollow profile spaces inserting or overlapping into one another, but in such a way that a relatively large empty space for a possible complete folding into one another of the canopy rods remains unused, in particular in the region of the crown between the central canopy rod and the first link parallelograms as well as in the region of the slide between the main strut and the second link parallelogram.